


until i met you

by MavenMorozova



Series: tlc ship weeks 2020 [4]
Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mask Wearing, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Banter, Dating, F/M, Fantasy Politics, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, POC Cress Darnel, Pandemics, Request Meme, Soulmates, The Lunar Chronicles Ship Weeks, tlc ship weeks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:54:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26179813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MavenMorozova/pseuds/MavenMorozova
Summary: Kai was just looking for a mechanic to fix his android...he had no idea that he'd be meeting his soulmate.
Relationships: Kai/Linh Cinder
Series: tlc ship weeks 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884253
Comments: 26
Kudos: 68





	1. colors

**Author's Note:**

> @thepurpledragon4444 requested: 💖 for kaider where the world is black and white until u meet up soulmate pls!
> 
> Also written for kaider ship week day 4: au day (soulmates + au where they were masks because letumosis is a literal pandemic with a 100% death rate smh)

He was walking along the fringes of the New Beijing market, hood pulled up around his face and hands stuffed into his hoodie’s pocket. His finely made silk mask was already covering his nose and mouth, but Kai could never be too sure that no one would recognize him, so he was willing to wear the stifling hoodie, even in the middle of summer. He did not wish to be ambushed by his paparazzi.

Fortunately, he received no weird looks as he traversed lower into the city, for here, everyone was a tad warier of each other. His backpack was not out of place either, and though the thick canvas of it laid heavily on his sweaty pack, Kai pressed onward.

Soon, he reached what he was looking for, the stall of the renowned mechanic Linh Cinder. He wondered where the man would be found, for he seemed to not be at the front table. “Hello?” Kai called into the dark stall filled with even darker grease stains. He’d been told by his father that grease was a brownish-yellow, but Kai couldn’t see colors yet, so alas, he could not be sure that what he was seeing was in fact grease. But he had a pretty good idea.

“Linh Cinder?” he called again, rapping on the table with his knuckles.

A loud crash was heard from behind the stall’s curtain, and Kai jumped back slightly, his hands freezing at his sides. He had no weapon on him, not that he knew how to use one.

Just then, a tallish girl with long hair tied back in a ponytail stumbled out from behind the curtain, a worker’s apron tied around her waist and long cargo pants that hid her legs. She leaned on the sparse furniture as she walked, rather awkwardly, Kai had to admit, and sat down at the table in front of him. A table which looked somehow...different, and the same shade of unfamiliar neutral as her eyes. Wait a minute. Was he—was she?

Kai saw the girl’s eyes widen, and his own mouth fell open. She was wearing a light-colored shirt that was the same color as the plant that stood in the corner but somehow...duller, and her face was covered in grease stains, somehow of a different dimension than the normal greyscape of the world.

_ Oh, stars.  _ He was seeing  _ colors _ .

“A-Are you, um, Linh Cinder?” he asked, wishing that he sounded more like a paying customer, more like the authoritative prince that he was instead of a taken aback teenager.

The girl’s nose twitched. She gulped. “I am. Why?”

“You’re just...not what I was expecting,” he said in reply. It seemed that they would be doomed to skirt around the obvious subject at hand, their being soulmates. Fine. Unless...was she still seeing black and white? What if he wasn’t  _ her  _ soulmate at all?

Shaking his head, Kai dropped his heavy canvas backpack down on the table with a thumb and the poor wooden thing shook with the weight of his android. “This is Nainsi,” Kai explained, pulling her from the bag. “Can you fix her?”

“Of course,” Cinder snorted with a hint of arrogance. For once, Kai was glad that he was wearing a mask, and that she was too, for otherwise, she would have recognized him. Honestly, it was better this way. If he was her soulmate, she wouldn’t have to be worried about entanglements with the royal family.

“Can I ask you a question?” he finally blurted as Cinder leaned her head around to examine Nainsi’s white, domed head. The mechanic in question looked up, surprised with a hint of nervousness in her gaze. “Go ahead,” she said.

“Are you seeing black and white right now?” Kai asked, deciding that he wouldn’t avoid the conversation any longer. It was bound to happen eventually.

Slowly, Cinder shook her head. “Your hoodie is navy blue,” she whispered, voice so quiet that he could barely hear her. Or maybe her mask was just muffling her voice and Kai was reading too much into it. “And your hair is black and your eyes brown—” She stopped suddenly, as if she was aware that her knowledge of the colors was unusual.

“So you’ve seen them for a long time,” Kai replied, feeling more than a little disappointed. This was...just great. He was doomed to have a soulmate that wasn’t his.

But Cinder just shook her head. “No, I actually have studied the specific transitional color theory of how the neutrals turn into colors,” she said. “That’s how I know. But I just experienced them for the first time just now.”  _ When I saw you.  _ He heard the unspoken words, and it made him unbelievably happy. But Kai also sensed that she wasn’t telling the full truth. Spades, he had no idea what this supposed “transitional color theory” was; he’d certainly never heard of it before. But why would she lie to him?

“After you repair my droid,” he said cautiously, “do you want to perhaps...go on a date with me?” He cringed as he said it, but what was the point in staying silent? “I mean, so we can get to know each other better.”

Surprisingly, Cinder smiled; Kai could tell from the way that her skin crinkled around her eyes, even if he couldn’t see her lips. “That would be...nice,” she said quietly, and he detected a hint of nervousness in her tone. After a moment, she asked, “What’s your call number? I have a good memory—I’ll remember it and comm you when the droid is finished,” she told him.

Kai told her, a bit saddened when they moved on to official business, but after all, that’s why he had come to this stall. “I’ll see you later, Cinder,” Kai said as he took his now-empty backpack and twisted around to place it on his shoulders. “I—I would appreciate if you could finish the work on the droid sooner than later,” he finished cautiously. “There is a lot of...important information on there. Dealing with, uh...national security.”

Her brows were drawn together shrewdly. “So, you’re a high-ranking official, then?”

“Something like that,” Kai replied with a grin. “Thank you so much.”

She nodded. “I will comm you.”

Kai waved and let himself be enveloped by the market’s crowd once more. She was indeed pretty, but he wished that he could see her without her mask. With any luck in their relationship together, though, maybe they would be able to sooner than later. Kai hoped. Still, he was curious about her statement about “transitional color theory.” He would have to look that up when he returned to the palace. “Who are you, Linh Cinder?” Kai wondered as he headed back. Whoever she was, he was excited to get to know her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is going to become a multichapter fic because that’s what we do here lol. I just want to expand on this story for a couple more chapters until it enters into the canon timeline. You also may have noticed that their meeting was sort of different, i.e. cinder was in the back, she had to stumble to the front without her foot, iko wasn’t there, etc. sorry about the changes but i hope you still liked it!
> 
> comments are always appreciated; i love hearing what y'all think! also this is unbeta'd so feel free to point out mistakes:)


	2. cinder's predicament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinder now has a lot to think about, especially with some new information Iko has gathered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome back to this little fic! I've changed a few things from the last chapter--mainly, Kai saw a brownish-yellow color, but he of course couldn't know what brownish-yellow was _called_ , so instead he just realizes that it's not a shade of grey.  
> Cinder also does not use a portscreen in chapter 1 anymore when recording Kai's number, as she doesn't need one.  
> my bad with those mistakes! and now--on to the chapter!

Cinder stared after her client—her  _ soulmate _ —mouth falling open behind her mask when she realized that she’d never gotten his name. Shaking her head at her own stupidity, Cinder fell back into her seat, jaw pushed to the side and she fumed _. I will comm you.  _ Who was she, Peony?

Not that there was anything wrong with the way Peony acted...but it was just not like Cinder at all. And now the whole conversation was playing over in her head again, literally, her cybernetic brain pulling up a recording of the interaction.  _ Transitional color theory. _ She had to admit that that had been a pretty good cover-up for her brain computer’s color associations, identifying each color as her eyes processed them for the first time. It was rather beautiful, to know how to describe them, to put words to the magnificent feat.

Not many people ever got to meet their soulmates, and Cinder felt almost lucky. Almost. She would have been if it were not for the fact that she was a cyborg, a disgusting, unloved cyborg, with Adri controlling her every move.

“Cinder? Cinder?  _ Hello!” _

Iko was prodding at her fleshy, human leg with a short pincer-like arm extension.

“I thought you were at the hardware store getting some supplies,” Cinder mumbled without turning her head, still obsessing over her new soulmate. If she could blush, she would be blushing right now.

“I was,” Iko said primly. “But I had to come back immediately when I saw the Prince at your stall!” Her sensor whizzed around maniacally in excitement, and Cinder shot upwards, feeling her eyes widen. “Prince?” she repeated, the words sounding foreign in her mouth. “That was...Prince Kai?”

“The one and only,” Iko responded with a swoon, or at least the best that an android could do to mimic one. “Your identification system didn’t pick up on it?”

“No,” Cinder muttered, fingers fidgeting with the edges of her gloves like she always did when she was nervous. “I’m not sure why—is my brain somehow malfunctioning? Iko, what’s going on?”

Iko whirred over to her, patting her “arm” on Cinder’s thigh. “Don’t worry about it, Cinder. I’m sure your systems were just overwhelmed with discovering colors for the first time.”

Cinder narrowed her eyes. “How did you know?” she asked.

“We share a psychic link, don’t you know?” Iko said, her sensor blinking with affection. When Cinder only glared at her, she dimmed a little. “I overheard the conversation with the new sensors you gave me,” she muttered ashamedly. “I was eavesdropping. Sorry.”

Cinder just rolled her eyes. “It’s okay, it’s not a big deal,” she said. After a moment— “Did you even get the supplies I needed?”

Iko’s sensor blinked red. No, then. Cinder sighed.

“But on a much better note, your new foot came in!” Iko told her with burgeoning excitement, gesturing to a new box atop the wagon she’d been connected to. “Put it on, Cinder!”

Cinder’s mood immediately brightened, and she grinned, hopping off her chair onto her one good leg and lifting the heavy box onto the worktable before her. Cinder opened the middle drawer and took out the prying knife she used to cut sections of metal, slicing the box open in one go. Inside was a beautiful, shining metal foot, one that would fit her, wrapped in smudged grey tissue paper. She removed it and fitted it onto her own missing limb, sighing when the circuiting was complete.

“Look, Iko, I can walk again!” Cinder shouted, jumping to her feet and strolling around her stall. It was a blessed relief, and Cinder couldn’t help the energy flowing inside her. She had a new leg, a new job for the  _ Prince, _ of all people, and he was her soulmate, too—

_ Oh, stars. _ He was her soulmate. Cinder groaned with her new realization—she would be dating the Prince. She would have to deal with the paparazzi, while simultaneously hiding her metal extremities and acting like a finely coiffed princess. This was going to be absolute hell.

As if she sensed Cinder’s predicament, Iko came over to her, sensor beeping softly. “It’s alright, Cinder,” she said quietly. “You can do this.”

“I just don’t know how,” Cinder admitted, squeezing her eyes shut. “He won’t want me! The public won’t want me! This is all too embarrassing.”

“You should just tell him that you’re a cyborg,” Iko suggested.

Cinder shook her head. “I can’t. He’d be mortified.  _ I’d  _ be mortified.”

“Yeah, but imagine what will happen if you wait,” said Iko. “Everything will be so much worse. This way, if anything bad happens, you’ll still be in the beginning stage. Nothing bad will happen. The worst situation is that he’ll reject you and you’ll continue living your life. It will be fine.”

Cinder sighed. Iko made some good point, she had to admit. But she also wasn’t ready for that kind of...exposure of herself. “I guess I’ll figure it out as I go,” she muttered, much to Iko’s disappointment. “Now, I need to be getting back to the apartment. Dusk is falling.”

Just then, a loud wailing hit the area. _ Stars,  _ Cinder thought. This was going to go quite badly.

***

She managed to squirm her way out from the market without getting any second glances, thankfully avoiding the quarantine. Her heart ached for Chang Sunto, for he was so little and wouldn’t be able to survive the plague, but then again, no one ever did.

As Cinder made her way through the streets and back to the apartment, Nainsi the android under her arm and Iko trailing behind her, her thoughts whirled. The whole marketplace would be made to isolate in the government buildings now, left alone to die without the antidote that Earth was so desperately looking for. She just prayed that Adri wouldn’t find out and send her away with them.

Home was a disaster ordeal as always. Pearl and Peony were being fitted for ball gowns, and Cinder slumped to her bedroom, androids in tow, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to go. It was quiet in her small space, a reprieve from all the shouting and banging she heard at the market every day.

Quickly, Cinder opened up her toolbox and began to work on the android Nainsi, attempting to restore her battery and files. It was work that required her full attention, stopping her from brooding over her interaction with Prince Kai.

However, nothing she tried seemed to work. Nainsi stayed resolutely off, not even blinking her sensor or puttering to life before going black again. Cinder sighed and banged the tool in her hand against the round white dome of the android, hoping that perhaps a bit of force would get it working.

But no. And now Cinder felt stupider than ever. “Iko,” she told her faithful companion, “Won’t you please start dinner? I’ll be right there.”

Iko blinked her sensor, a yes, and whirred away, leaving Cinder alone and heavily pissed off. She would have to join the android soon, but for now, she could allow herself a moment of silence. “Why?” she asked the empty room. “This isn’t fair.”

It never had been fair, but Cinder didn’t want to dwell on everything, just her current predicament.

After a long moment, she pulled up her brain’s portscreen, opening her contacts app. Kai’s contact sat there unassumingly, a few numbers carefully inputted into the system. With a quick intake of breath, Cinder opened the chat function, deciding to send the Prince a short text.

_ would you like to meet for caf? _ she asked, feeling stupid already. _ I mean, if you have time, being a high ranking official and all _

She decided here and now not to let him know that she knew he was the Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth. Not yet, anyways.

The text bubble on the other end lit up, and Cinder’s stomach flipped with excitement. Then—

_ I’d love to, Cinder. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments are always appreciated, let me know what you thought!


	3. a multicolored café

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinder and Kai have their date. But with a new discovery about Nainsi, a little more is on the line than just the new colors they are discovering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello lovely gays gals & nb pals! how's everyone going? it's rough out in the world right now, so here's to hoping that everyone is safe and healthy and well as you can be. take this chapter of fluffy kaider, won't you? ;)

It was a few weeks before Cinder and Kai could actually meet. She knew, now, that the Lunar queen was coming, Queen Levana, said to be the worst of them all, and Cinder was sure that Kai would have his hands full. And his mind.

Preparations for the upcoming ball and the Lunar royalty arriving was being broadcast on the holonets day and night, as if they had nothing better to do, nothing more pertinent to show...which was absolutely sickening. Every day, more people died of Letumosis...and the world didn’t seem to care anymore. Or at least, not the Commonwealth. It made Cinder want to itch the spots where her skin met her prosthetics. She was dying to speak to Kai about the issue. But then again, would that be stepping out of her place?

Cinder sighed.

She had seen so many new colors since they had first met, but everything was in a slight greyish undertone, as if she was enshrouded in fog. According to what she had researched, the more time one spent with their soulmate, the more colors came into sharper, more vibrant, focus. It was only one more reason for her to anticipate her meeting with Prince Kai.

The days preceding their date crept slowly, and even though Cinder’s schedule was chock-full of errands for Adri, tinkering at what she hoped was a good pace with Nainsi, and the usual chores, grocery shopping, and other clientele, she couldn’t seem to pass the time fast enough. Soon, however, the morning arrived, and Cinder could barely think. She couldn’t blush, so at least that hid some of her cover as she made an excuse to Adri about buying out-of-stock parts from outside New Beijing and headed out of the apartment, a grin on her face once she’d turned away.

Iko was sad to be left behind, but it wasn’t like she wanted to third-wheel either. And besides, Cinder had Nainsi with her just in case anything happened. Nainsi, the mysterious android who still had that perfect polish to her outer dome, and yet was as stuck as a dead battery.

Yet, Cinder had managed to crack just a little bit of her code. Yesterday, Cinder had found a Direct Communication Chip lodged into her interface, and she immediately knew it had to have been something important. As soon as she had attempted to use the interface with Iko, however, the girl on the other end had begun to chatter off at what seemed to be the top of her lungs, and Cinder had had to shut it off for fear of waking Adri, Pearl, and Peony.

So now, she hoped that she could bring up the incident with Kai. It was his droid, after all, and now that Nainsi was working, she could help them, too. Assuming Kai wanted Cinder to be involved.

He would, wouldn’t he? She was his soulmate, after all.

Now, Cinder waited anxiously outside of the cafe, admiring the outdoor pavilions it had set up around the small indoor area, which since the Letumosis outbreak in New Beijing, had been barred to the public. The outdoor areas were beautiful though, with red tent ceilings and hanging multicolored paper lanterns. Cinder could see the colors in a dull fade, but she was still utterly stunned by the sheer  _ amount _ of colors that met her eyes. Each seating table even had a heater that had since been built under the floorboards, keeping the platform warm against the feet.

Cinder watched another couple sit down as she fidgeted with her mask. Where was he?

A few more minutes passed, and then someone tapped her on the shoulder. Cinder spun around to see a familiar pair of dark eyes ( _ brown!  _ her mind supplemented) and tousled black bangs that fell in a swoop across a clear-skinned forehead like a pop star on the holonet. He was wearing a hoodie again, though this one was less of a ratty loungewear and more of a classy sweater with a hood, so he could still retain his anonymity.

“Kai?” she asked, though at this point, there was no one else who it could be. Still, she thought, it was confusing with the mask covering his nose and lips.  _ Lips? _ Cinder immediately wanted to bash herself over the head.  _ Mouth _ —the mask was covering his  _ mouth _ .

They sat down, Nainsi rolling behind them to settle beside the table. Cinder took in a deep breath as they removed their shoes and stepped onto the platform, hoping that her extra-long pant leg would hide her metal extremity. Kai was much more graceful than her, slipping off his shoes like a ballerina removing their flats, and easily crossed his limbs into a sitting position. Cinder copied him, awkwardly smiling.

He smiled at her too, and the silence was aching for a moment. Then—

“So...you finished with Nainsi, then?”

Cinder nodded. “She should be working now.” As she said the words, a battle raged in her mind. She wasn’t sure yet if she wanted to bring up the D-Comm chip, not so soon in their date. Was that selfish of her, to want a little bit of Kai to herself? She had to remind herself again that he was her soulmate. She had a right to be possessive.

But telling him about Nainsi’s D-Comm chip wouldn’t change anything...right?

Taking a breath, Cinder leaned forward to speak, but before the confession could leave her lips, Kai was speaking. “Tea?” he asked her, eyes glinting with a kind crinkle. She couldn’t see his mouth, but she knew that he was smiling.

“Mint, please,” Cinder responded. She was again glad that she could not blush.

Kai nodded politely and pressed a small button on the corner of the table. Instantly, an android drifted over to them, the metal of its rotund body painted a lovely light shade ( _ golden! _ ) to match the embroidered decor of the cafe. “How can I serve you today,  _ dangol-sonnim?” _

“Two mint teas, please,” he told the android, who nodded and drifted back the way it had come.

Cinder stared after it. It had just come, and gone…

“What is it?” Kai asked her, and Cinder abruptly swiveled to face him again. “You look unsettled.”

Cinder tried to smile and shook her head. “I’ve just...never been to a place like this before. I’m usually the one serving people, not the one being served.” She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, all too aware of the thin gloves that covered her hands. She could feel the seams of where they ended pressing into her wrists and rubbing up against the coarse fabric of her sleeves, and she wanted to fidget with them, but she couldn’t risk Kai’s attention being drawn to her most vulnerable spots.

So instead, she sighed and tried to calm her nerves. “It’s a very nice place.”

Kai eyed her carefully. “I thought you’d like it. Since we’re—well—” his voice faded into uncertainty, breaking off into silence.

“Soulmates,” Cinder supplied, voice flat with dry amusement. “It’s not a bad word, you know. Although I suppose as a prince, you have a very high standard of language.”

She could see his eyes smiling again as he met her teasing gaze. “I’m just nervous about it. That’s all.”

“That’s obvious,” Cinder grumbled, though her tone was inflected with the light tint of laughter. “You need to work on your confidence, your highness.”

_ And you’re one to talk, _ she told herself harshly.  _ Look at you. Can’t even stand up to Adri.  _ A shake of her head, and the thought was tumbled from her mind in a rough skid. It would come back, she knew. But it had no place here, not when she was happy.

_ “Anyway,” _ Kai butt in, rolling his eyes. “I thought you’d like this place because of all the colors. Look!” He gestured with a long finger to where the lanterns were strung up across the pavilion, and Cinder gasped. The shades within them had deepened much more from when she had arrived, pastels bleeding into a rich litany of color.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Kai asked, just as awed as she was, apparently. “Torin, my advisor, told me about it.”

“Well, thank the stars for Torin, then,” Cinder said. Kai laughed at her quip, hand falling from its point onto the table gently. “Yes,” he agreed. “Thank the stars for Torin.”

“And you're sure this isn’t the full extent of it?” Cinder asked him, her head shaking in slight disbelief. “The colors will get... _ more?” _

Kai shrugged, one perfectly manicured eyebrow lifting. “We’re only at the beginning, so...I guess!”

Cinder grinned despite herself.

Then her expression fell as the little android beside her whirred, as if calling her to its aid. It was as if a light switch had just been flicked, sending her back into the dank atmosphere of New Beijing’s underbelly. “So I found something in Nainsi.”

Kai’s face slowly morphed from the wonder of the colors to a wrinkled worry interweaving his brow as Cinder relayed him the information, voice low. “The girl didn’t seem threatening; she seemed scared, really,” she told him. “But if the chip  _ is _ Lunar…”

“We have to take this to the palace security staff,” Kai muttered under his breath. “I’m so sorry, Cinder. We can’t stay for the date...we’ll have to redo it again. We can come back here.” His grimace deepened as he stood.

Cinder’s mind roared. She  _ knew  _ it. She should have just kept silent until the end, like she had thought to originally do. And now she was losing him again.

On the outside, she just nodded, a slow, barely perceptible movement. A jerk of the head, a symbol of resignation.

When she didn’t stand, Kai stared at her incredulously. “You’re just going to...stay here?”

Cinder looked up at him, taken aback at the insistence in his voice. “You want me to come with you?”

Kai nodded as if there were no other option. “Cinder, you’re the one who discovered this. You’re the amazing mechanic who may have just as well saved the nation.  _ And  _ you’re my soulmate. Of  _ course _ you’re coming.”

Cinder felt her heartbeat speed up, something melting pleasantly inside her at the caringness of his argument. “Al-alright,” she muttered, and stood, trying not to stumble as she and Kai made their way back to their shoes.

Behind them, the familiar sound of the cafe android’s voice could be heard. “You do not wish for the tea,  _ dangol-sonnim?” _

Kai shook his head hesitantly. “I sincerely apologize. We will certainly return! But this is urgent.”

The android only dutifully reversed its steps, not at all like Iko, who would have grumbled all the way. Cinder felt the corner of her lips turn up at the thought of her wiry friend, waiting at home with Adri and the girls.

“Ready?” Kai asked her once their shoes were back on their feet and they stood facing the street. Behind them, Nainsi’s sensor blinked a quick  _ yes. _

Cinder nodded. “Let’s do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, comments are much appreciated! stay safe<3


	4. national security

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinder and Kai arrive at the palace and discover the beauty they had never noticed before. But they don't have much time to linger; a small Lunar girl awaits them from within the seeming glitch in Nainsi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey folks! welcome to another chapter!! this one's a bit angstier than the last, but we're nearing the end of this little fic, so don't worry, all will pan out well in the end! (the plotline will eventually assimilate back to the main series!)
> 
> also, thanks for all your lovely comments so far throughout this story! i love you<3
> 
> as for now, enjoy!

Kai was tense as he and Cinder returned to the palace, not walking this time, but in a fancy hover he’d called with his identity chip. He could feel the tightness in every muscle of his body, the itch in his brain. He needed some water to ease the cracky dryness of his throat.

Levana had been stealing their information for ages. That’s how she had known about so many things…

No matter. Nainsi would be restored, and they’d have to keep a closer eye on things. There was no other option. Besides, now that he had Cinder at his side, they could always fix things that she broke.  _ If _ she managed to destroy anything else, which if Kai had his way, she wouldn’t. She  _ couldn’t. _

Beside him, Cinder rolled her neck in one gloved hand, grimacing as she stretched. It was a cramped hover after all, only meant to be Kai’s quick transport when it was an emergency. He had been quite sure back at the hover that this situation qualified as such, but now he was panicking. Cinder was practically on his lap, their thighs pressed together with hers slightly lifted above his. And she was barely moving; Kai could sense the tension in her muscles just the same as his.

When Cinder’s finger twitched within its fabric confines again, Kai frowned. “Why the gloves?”

He thought, he  _ thought _ , that just for a split-second, panic had crossed her face, a fleeting expression on her countenance that faded just as quickly as it had come. Cinder’s eyes widened just a bit, then she smiled. “My gloves?”

It was almost as if she was trying to act like she hadn’t heard him. Kai’s eyes narrowed, and he saw her swallow.

“Yeah,” he said, attempting casualness that his awkward form did not contain. He didn’t want to make her sweat, after all. “You just...I mean I’m sure they’re great for mechanics and...stuff, but were you gonna eat with those on?” He laughed to himself at the thought.

Cinder smiled again, the expression a little too fake, just as it had been before. Kai’s eyes dropped to her wrists, where she was fidgeting with the hems of the same gloves they were discussing. “I just—I’m used to them, I guess.” She shrugged unconvincingly.

Kai felt his heart melt then, seeing the colors within her irises flit about with nerves. Cinder’s sarcasm had faded to a diminished shyness, almost anxiety, and she turned her head to look out of the window of the hover. “Hey,” he said. “You don’t have to tell me. But I’m your soulmate, Cinder—”

“—as you seem so keen to remind me,” she interjected with a brief eye roll.

“—and I care about you,” Kai finished earnestly. He scoffed, shaking his head. “So of course I’m reminding you that we’re soulmates!” he added, emphasizing the last word. He relished the sound of it on his tongue. “Because we are! So you can trust me!”

Cinder was silent for a moment, and she shifted in her seat— _ their _ seat, causing them both a brief moment of discomfort before she could reposition herself to fully face him. “I know,” she said quietly. “But have you  _ really _ thought about it, Kai?”

He loved the sound of his name from her lips. Blinking at her dumbly, he shook his head. “What do you mean?”

“I mean the future,” Cinder replied bitterly. “You ever think about how people might react when they find that your soulmate is a commoner? A mechanic? A cy—” She broke off into strained silence, chewing on her lip. “They won’t want me.”

“All that’s common enough,” Kai said, taking her gloved hand in his. Cinder flinched slightly, but did not pull away. He wondered, then, what it was that she had been going to say before she cut herself off. “I don’t care, and that’s what matters.”

Cinder let out a long breath and broke their eye contact again. He could see the muscles in her throat swallowing with discomfort, and hesitantly, he let go of her grasp. “We should worry about the present before the future,” he said. “That’s a long time from now.”

“You barely know anything about me...who I am,  _ what  _ I am…”

_ What I am?  _ wondered Kai, tapping his index finger on the nail of his thumb. What was that supposed to mean? He didn’t know how to respond, so he just smiled gently and leaned against the window, all too aware of the feel of her legs pressing into his.

Oh, well. They would be at the palace soon.

***

Cinder could feel the nerves fluttering in her system when they arrived at the palace, stepping out of the hover to stare at the marvellous, tall, and ornate gates that stood majestically before them. Red-rimmed wood joined newer building materials as the old wings of the wall bled into the new, painted with all sorts of colors that her brain’s portscreen shot into her head at a million kilometers per hour. _ Teal. Green. Magenta. Purple. Orange. Sunburst. Tan. Navy. _

Scrunching her face together, Cinder blinked the text across her vision away from where it was clogging her view.

_ Wow. _

“This is...amazing,” she said aloud, voice quiet. Beside her, Kai grinned. “I’ve lived here all my life, but now it’s like seeing it through new eyes. I had no idea it was this beautiful. Imagine what the inside will be like, where there’s no faded color from the sun.”

Unable to help herself, Cinder grinned along with him, and they stayed there for a few moments before waking from their reverie.

“Should we go inside?” Cinder asked, hesitant to break the calmness and serenity.

Kai shook himself in a most un-prince-like manner and nodded, one arm outstretched to the path that had just been revealed by the opening of the gates. “Right this way.”

Side by side, they made their way through the courtyard, focus mostly intact, largely due to the pertinence of their task. Still, Cinder’s eyes lingered on the cherry blossoms and water lilies floating in the clear pond, which reflected the colors that were almost too much for her sensory processor. Kai seemed just as stunned even though he wasn’t a cyborg, mouth eyes widened in a prolonged expression of awe.

Finally, they were inside.

“We need to find Torin quickly,” Kai told the nearest attendant, allowing the servants to remove his outer garb and brush the dust from the street off of his back and shoulders. Cinder stood there awkwardly as the exchange progressed, unused to such formalities. Her brain blanked for a brief moment, and she realized for what seemed like the thousandth time...she was in the presence of the  _ prince. _ Prince Kaito, soon to be emperor, if Letumosis had its way.

Kai moved to step forward then, with all his disguises taken away, but he was stopped by a quick arm across his chest from another servant, someone who appeared to be higher-ranking, at least from what Cinder could observe from the markings on the fine cloth of her uniform. “Your highness.”

Kai blinked at her.

“Your test, my prince.”

In a moment of realization, Kai blinked again and folded up his sleeve neatly. “Do you have one for my companion, the renowned mechanic Linh Cinder, Ko-mei?”

The servant nodded at her companion whom Cinder had not noticed, and they stepped forward, a kit in their grasp. “Linh-mei, your forearm, please.”

“What’s this?” Cinder asked, mind spinning. It couldn’t be a vaccine; she would have known about it. The world would have.

Seemingly averse to Cinder’s sudden hostility, as well as her disgruntling appearance, the medical worker smiled politely, eyes crinkling though their mouth was hidden behind a grey mask. “These are simply blood tests for the virus, madam. As well as a cursory temperature check.” They held up a small pocket-size device that they had just produced from the kit. It was what Cinder assumed to be a thermometer, but she couldn’t be sure—it wasn’t like the stick-type that Adri carried in the apartment, but white and sleek with a computerized sensor over the edge.

“Oh,” Cinder said dumbly. “I didn’t know—”

“That you’d be able to get the results so quickly?” the servant guessed. They motioned for Cinder to roll up her sleeve, and she did quickly, careful to make sure it was her non-cyborg limb that she was exposing.

“Yes, Letumosis tests usually take a few days to get results for,” the servant admitted as they cleaned Cinder’s skin with an alcohol patch and prepped the needle, tapping the tube against their index finger gently. “But there’s a special technology that allows for immediate results, it’s just very expensive. So we can only use it for those who have need to enter the palace as of now. To protect the emperor and the prince, as well as everyone else who resides here.”

Cinder nodded. “Of course,” she said.  _ I wonder how Rikan was still able to catch it,  _ she added in her mind.

They looked rather pleased with the development. “Besides, in the next few weeks, we will be able to roll out a prototype to those who visit the quarantines and other large establishments! Since the funding—”

Beside them, Kai frowned. “That’s for me and Torin to discuss,” he stated bluntly, and the servant blushed in embarrassment. Cinder could understand the situation, though. It wasn’t her business...not yet, anyways.

The brief conversation turned silent then, and Cinder turned her face away as the needle pricked her skin, fear clenching in her gut. The sensation reminded her overtly of her recurring nightmares, where she was burned, and then poked and prodded like an object.

Now, a wave of nausea swept over her as a sample of her blood filled the vial and the medical servant pulled out the needle. She couldn’t help but gag over her shoulder, dry as it was.

“Are you alright, Cinder?” Kai asked her gently, turning to face her head-on. He rubbed absentmindedly at the bandage now covering his forearm, and Cinder saw there that he had gotten pricked many times. She couldn’t imagine having to do that, but she knew she was going to have to since she was now apparently Kai’s personal mechanic... _ and _ his soulmate.

But despite the truth of her memories, she nodded, albeit with a light grimace. “I’m fine.” When he looked unconvinced, Cinder cast him an amused, sarcastic glare, false as it may have been. “Everyone hates needles, Kai.”

“Fair enough,” he said, though his concerned expression did not fade.

They waited patiently for their results (both negative) and then moved onward to Kai’s office on the second floor. An older greying man waited there, whom Cinder could presume was Konn Torin, the advisor, sitting on the sofa with his hands folded tightly in his lap. He was like a coiled snake, all the energy pent up in a small figure and waiting to strike.

Though Cinder supposed that he didn’t look particularly menacing either.

As they entered, Cinder gave a customary bow, and Kai gave a genuine grin. “Good to see you, Torin.”

“It’s been only a few hours, your highness,” he deadpanned with eyes laden with exhaustion. “This must be important.”

Kai nodded tersely, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat as he swallowed. “Cinder says Nainsi is working again. There’s a Lunar girl on the other end of this D-COMM chip, and—”

“She wasn’t really a threat,” Cinder interjected, but Torin only frowned. “Never underestimate someone based on size and mannerisms,” he muttered. “We should try to contact her again.”

Kai assented, and they placed Nainsi between them, projecting her communication sensor up onto the wall. It was a strained silence as they waited for the call to go through, and the Lunar on the other end to receive it from her little satellite.  _ Cress _ , her brain supplied her as she tried to remember the girl’s name. The brown-skinned girl was  _ Cress _ .

“Hello?” a squeaky voice finally asked, and Cinder felt Kai immediately sit up straighter beside her.

Cress...was a mess, to say the least. Her long black hair was in tangles around her head and it just seemed to  _ keep going… _ A train of it fell onto the floor and was wrapped around her wrists as well. It was an odd sight, indeed. And that wasn’t even mentioning the absolute clutter of the room behind her. Cinder couldn’t really judge—she wasn’t so clean herself—but she could practically feel the judgemental stares of the two government officials beside her. It was...slightly amusing.

Clearing her throat, Cinder stepped forward. “Cress? It’s me.”

“Cinder!” replied the other girl, her eyes widening in relief. “It’s so good to see you.” She looked around warily at Kai and Torin. “Wha…?”

“This is Prince Kai of the Eastern Commonwealth,” Cinder introduced promptly, “and his advisor Konn Torin. And this—” She pointed at the projected screen “—is Cress.”

They made their introductions, Cress’s a little shaky as she explained that she was  _ meant _ to be a spy for the queen, and that there was a listening device in the room they were standing in at this very moment. “Don’t worry,” she added afterward. “It just routes back to me. I...had to do it. It’s a long story of how I got here.”

Kai nodded, and Cinder felt a twinge of affection at his serious compassion. He was young, but she could already tell that he’d make a great Emperor. He was understanding and astute, and he didn’t care too much about standing...at least when it came to her. The thought made Cinder want to hold his hand, but the idea was immediately chased out by a heavy dose of embarrassment.  _ Foolish _ , she chided herself as she reeled herself back in to where the conversation was happening.

“How do we know we can trust you, Cress-mei?” Torin was asking, awkwardly stumbling over the respectful suffix. They did not know her last name; Cinder was even beginning to doubt that the girl had one.

“I can come down to Earth?” Cress suggested meekly after a moment. “The Queen and Mistress Sybil would be furious, but I would much rather help the people of Earth than Luna.”

“And why is that?” Kai countered. Cinder could see the tick in his frown, the exhaustion in his gaze.

But she also could see the same echoed in Cress’s eyes. The girl had bags under her eyes—real ones, too, almost chronic—and though she moved with a springy energy Cinder had never seen in anyone else, she perceived that Cress’s exhaustion was not one of a physical nature, but mentally. Emotionally. Something borne of long-standing trauma that had been ingrained in her from a young age.

It wasn’t Cinder’s consciousness that told her this, exactly, but the analytics of her cybernetic brain. For once, she found herself thankful for it. “Kai,” she interrupted, pulling him aside to the chagrin of Torin. “The girl has been abused her whole life.”

“How do you—”

“Just trust me,” Cinder cut in, squeezing his hand. Saying those words sent a pang of guilt through her. How could she beg him to trust her when he did not even know she was a cyborg?

But to her dismay, Kai shook his head. “I know you’re my soulmate Cinder. And I really like you. But this is our national security in the balance. If you know something, please...just tell me.”

He looked pained even as he said it, deep brown irises willing her to persuade him that he could trust her, as she wanted him too so badly.

Panic ignited in Cinder’s heart as she stared back at him, overwhelmed by the emotion, the pleading  _ want _ of mental intimacy in his expression.

_ Heart speeding up. Deep breaths recommended. Initiating cool down procedure in three...two... _

No. No, no,  _ no! _

Cinder breathed in deeply, attempting to quell the bodily functions that accompanied her emotions. She couldn’t faint. Not only would it be beyond embarrassing, but they simply didn’t have the time.

It was now or never, she decided. She would have to tell Kai the truth.

“Kai...I’m a cyborg.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, well, well...what is kai going to do? let's hope he's more tolerant than he initially was in Cinder and the beginning of Scarlet...
> 
> comments/kudos are always appreciated. you can also come say hi to me on tumblr [@nitheful](https://darkalinas.tumblr.com/)!


	5. cyborg soulmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the truth revealed, Cinder and Kai face one last hurdle in their developing relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaand here we are! the reveal has taken place, and the fallout arrives! so enjoy some (light)angst and fluff ahead:)

Kai stood in place, frozen, dumbfounded. Cinder...his soulmate...a disfigured conglomeration of human flesh corrupted with metal and wire? A  _ cyborg? _

When the air returned to his chest, the only work he could say was, “What?”

Cinder swallowed, and Kai briefly wondered if there was a mechanical piece inside of her, telling her to follow such an action. To act as if she had human vulnerability.

“I’m a cyborg,” she repeated, softer this time, voice shaky. He could see her breaths become shallower.

Kai hadn’t known cyborgs could have soulmates.

He hadn’t known cyborgs...had  _ souls _ .

No, that was too cruel. But hadn’t that been what he’d been taught? Or rather, lack of teaching throughout his time as a prince? They had never touched on the subject of cyborgs much because, well...Rikan had never thought it mattered. Not in the same way that foreign policy had, with Luna always a threat on the horizon.

Had that all been...wrong of them?

Kai was beginning to think so. His eyes were still locked on Cinder, his  _ cyborg soulmate, _ as the thoughts and memories rushed through his mind, each more telling than the last. He could not see any metal on the girl before him, for she wore the same thick mechanic’s gloves that she’d worn at the restaurant.

Ah, yes. That was right. She had not dared to remove them, and he had respected her privacy as best he could.

And now?

“Cinder,” Kai said, the word little more than a whisper. Around him, the white noise of his office was silenced. Torin was gone; so was the Lunar girl they called Cress. Everything, evanesced, but Linh Cinder, the cyborg mechanic.  _ His soulmate, _ he reminded himself again, just as he had reminded her so many times on their way to the palace and during their date. She’d been so adamantly refusing his obvious affection then; he understood now just why that had been.

“Yes, your highness?”

She had slipped back into the nervousness of formality again. “Kai,” he reminded her.

“Kai,” she repeated, licking her lips. He could see her shallow breathing quicken even further. “What—please tell me what you’re thinking right now. I can’t handle you just staying quiet like this. Tell me what you think of me.”

She shut her eyes tightly.

And Kai’s heart melted. How could such emotion be manufactured? He realized, then, that it didn’t matter what her body was made of, nor could he deny the laws of the universe, which warranted that he love her with every fiber of his being. Or at least, he could one day, once they got to know each other further.

Heart pumping with adrenaline, but that of the happy sort, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, giving Cinder a light squeeze. Under his touch, Cinder tensed, and Kai could finally feel the metal of one of her hands against his side. But he didn’t care. That was not what defined her.

Finally, she melted into his touch, returning the hug after a short reluctance. “I’m sorry,” he heard her say, and Kai’s brows drew together as he turned her head up so that they were face-to-face. “What are you apologizing for?”

Cinder looked away, as if suddenly realizing the depth of their intimacy and constricting in upon herself in panic. “I should have told you sooner,” she muttered. “But I was scared.”

“You don’t have to be,” Kai said softly. He felt his face heat up in the memory—the  _ near, just ago _ memory—of his own presumed bigotry, his own presumed bias. “I’m the one who should be sorry,” he admitted to her, staring into those deep brown eyes. As their gazes held, he could see the colors within her irises swirl and draw him in, the flecks of grey and near-black and indigo that fed into that rich brown. It was fitting for a grounded person like Cinder. She was beautiful in a way he had never known anyone—fierce, sarcastic, and yet surprisingly sensitive when she couldn’t take it anymore.

It was more like himself than he wished to admit.

Behind them, a voice cleared.

Kai turned to see Torin standing there awkwardly, hands crossed behind his back as his eyes flitted from them and back to the screen where Cress the Lunar leaned forward with her head resting on her hands, as if she was watching a particularly engaging net drama.

“Oh,” Kai said dumbly, slipping away from Cinder’s touch. “Sorry. I know. This is very important.”

But he couldn’t get far. Beside him, Cinder’s hand snatched at his, disallowing his departure from her side. He turned to look at her; she wouldn’t let go. “What I have to say about this is important, Kai,” Cinder said succinctly. “I had to tell you I was a cyborg for a  _ reason _ .”

Around them, all was silent, and Kai could feel his heart beating like a drum.

“I have a computer in my brain,” Cinder said bluntly, and he saw her glance worriedly at Cress. “It analyzes body language, tells me things about people I could have never figured out on my own. And from that, I know that Cress is not lying.  _ And _ I know that she needs us just as much as we need her.”

Kai looked back at Cress. At the sudden attention, the girl was shrinking back into herself and was now playing with a strand of her lanky black hair.

The room had fallen into awkward silence again, and this time, Kai knew that they were waiting on him. Cress was fidgeting, not meeting any of their gazes, her eyes trained on the strand of hair that was now wrapping again and again about her index finger in a tight vice. Torin seemed to be examining Cress and Cinder curiously, his forehead curled in thought. And Cinder was staring directly at him, her hand still wrapped with his, expectation waiting in every tight muscle of her face.

“Alright,” he finally said, letting out a woosh of breath. “Alright. We’re bringing you down here. Be ready.”

***

Cinder sat across from Kai again, a slight feeling of deja vu lighting up along her veins. They were back in the café again, sitting at the exact same table. “Tea?” Kai was asking her, lip curling at the memory of their first time here.

Cinder nodded with a grin, and soon enough, a flowery brew was set before them on a pot, warming them both. “So this is what you’re like when the security of the world isn’t at risk,” Cinder muttered, shaking her head. “I should cause more problems more often, just so that you can feel the blissful relief afterwards.”

“Please don’t do that,” Kai replied with a grimace. Cinder laughed at the hilarious expression that crossed his face as he spoke, then laughed even harder when he coughed on his tea, which he had sipped too quickly. She handed him a napkin, her metal hand on full display, ignoring the looks from the other patrons.

Kai had had to face the café owner with an icy stare when they arrived; they both had, since they were now both proclaimed royalty. They weren’t married yet, of course—it was far too early for that—but Cinder had had her lineage tested when she’d gotten the vaccine to Letumosis (Cress’s hacking skills had allowed them to access Luna’s resources and de-escalate the rising nuclear tensions), and she had been astounded to find that she, in fact, was Lunar. More than that, Cinder was  _ royalty _ , and she was still adjusting.

As she sat across from Kai, tea warming her face with its steam and colors bright and twinkling around them, Cinder wondered. With a slightly morbid amusement, she wondered what might have happened if she had never found Kai that day. If they had never recruited Cress to the Commonwealth’s forces.

Things might have gone much, much differently.

But she didn’t have to worry about that now. And so, with a light heart, Cinder leaned forward and kissed her fiancé on the lips, loving his softness and gentle beauty. As she sat back, Kai raised one eyebrow, unable to help a smirk. “I’m that irresistible?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Cinder quipped in reply, returning his expression. “I did that for your benefit.”

“Well it’s much appreciated, your highness,” he murmured.

“Your highness,” she returned.

Above them, the sun set, a fiery red and orange, crisp colors that lit their vision with passion, and promised a bright future ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading this lil fic everyone! it's gotten a lot more attention than i expected, and i greatly appreciate it! I'm on tumblr @nitheful if you want to say hello:D
> 
> and as always, i'd love if you tell me what you think in the comments! was the end too rushed? are you pleased with the fluffy ending? i always appreciate feedback:P stay safe friends!!


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